The ambassador of Poland to Belarus reported that
from the next week the embassy move to a new address Zmitraka Biaduli
11. The diplomats had to work in a tight building of the consulate in
Krapotkina street for several months. This happened after the Belarusian
authorities refused Poland to extend the rent of the former embassy
building in the Rumiantsava street in Minsk, which has been used since
the Soviet times, Radio Svaboda reports.

Leszek Szerepka called the Belarusian
authorities to cooperate with the UN’s reporter on human rights in
Belarus and claimed the unchangeable nature of the positions of the
European Union and Poland regarding Belarus:

“The conditions do not change, the conditions
remain the same. We expect that there are no political prisoners in
Belarus and those political activists who suffered, to be exonerated and
could take part in civic activities in Belarus. Poland fully supports
these conditions and we are waiting for the Belarusian authorities’
actions“.

Speaking about the law level of bilateral
relations, the ambassador admitted: “We would like to have better
relations this would be to the benefit of both – Belarus and Poland.
Being neighbors we should not turn our backs on each other”.

According to Leszek Szerepka, Belarus and Poland without
any specific effort could double the goods turnover, but the problem
lies in the general political and investment climate in Belarus.

The low level of political relations influences
other issues, particularly the consular ones. In 2011 Polish consulates
in Belarus issued 300 thousand visas in 2011, for 10 months of the
current year it is already 294 thousand, the number is expected to grow
up to 350 thousand till the end of the year, the ambassador informed.

“And it is all done without increasing the number
of the consulates stuff members. The Belarusian party does not agree to
increase the number of Polish consuls in Belarus despite all our
requests”.

Leszek Szerepka admitted that Belarus is not interest in
liberalization of the visa regime, in particular, does not react on the
respective suggestions from Brussels, which were sent to Minsk in June
last year.

According to the ambassador, since 2005 there has
been no progress in liberalization of the activities of the Union of the
Poles. An issue of property is also linked to that:

“Poland has built 16 Houses of Poles all over Belarus. Now they are not functioning the way they should have”.

Apart from that, the ambassador admitted, the
Polish party cannot receive permission for exhumation and reburial of
the remains of Polish partisans which lie straight in a field. The
problem of the Belarusian list of Katyn victims has not been solved so
far.